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After a few weeks off the road in April, Zach Bryan has made a triumphant return to the stage for a stellar performance at the first night of his two-show run in Des Moines, Iowa.
As well as rattling through fan-favourites such as ‘Quittin’ Time’, ‘Nine Ball’, ‘Open the Gate’, ‘God Speed’, ‘East Side of Sorrow’ and ‘Oklahoma City’, the ‘Deep Satin’ singer-songwriter treated the Wells Fargo Arena crowd to a live debut of ‘28’.
Zach Bryan shared a video of the unreleased song to his YouTube page earlier in the month alongside another track titled ‘Like Ida’. On the stripped-back ode, Zach reflects on the comfort found in an evening spent with his lover after a testing period of time (“How lucky are we? / It's been a hell of a week, but we're all grown now / There's smoke seepin' out, of your bloody teeth / But you're home somehow”).
The live version brings a whole new sense of gravitas to the sparse, intricate track, with the Des Moines audience adding a fervent backdrop of cheers and screams to the performance.
Fans have speculated that ‘28’ was penned by Zach about his girlfriend, Brianna LaPaglia, given the ballad's opening reference to Brianna's home-state (“You took a train to the south side of Boston / You showed me where your old man stayed”).
The new song - named after Zach's age - is another example of the poignant, deeply personal songwriting he's become synonymous with, but ‘28’ carries a slightly more optimistic, hopeful undertone compared to his 2023 self-titled album - perhaps a hint that his next studio project, which is set to be called The Great American Bar Scene, will explore themes of contentment and being in love.
Either way, fans are keenly clamouring for ‘28‘ to be made available to stream, with Zach Bryan's unexpected inclusion of the track in his Des Moines setlist a possible indicator that the Oklahoma chart-topper is planning on releasing it in the coming weeks.
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Featured photo by Laura Ord
